Cactus Rose Training Plan

So a few friends have asked me about my training plan for the Cactus Rose 100. While I don't have a detailed plan, I do have a basic outline in mind. I also have some self-imposed restrictions - our new baby is due in July and that definitely takes precedence. Family time is very important to me and I will not compromise that. Spending all day running at the Greenbelt does not appeal to me, so there will be a lot of early morning runs (maybe between overnight feedings), with the emphasis on quality workouts. Plus lots of weights and core workouts at home.

Here are the 10 principals underpinning my approach to this training plan and race:

1. Training officially starts at the beginning of May. This gives me a good 6 months to prepare. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue my marathon coaching this year or not, so that may play into things a little.

2. Get a base. My entire ultra training strategy is based on back-to-back training weekends. What I run during the week doesn't really matter that much - this is where the magic happens. Over the first few months I want to maintain a base Saturday run of 20 miles, and at least 10 on Sundays. Come August I will evaluate what needs tweaking.

3. Horses for courses - Cactus Rose is full of hills, lots of them, and all of them rugged. It is the Bandera course with most of the flat bits taken out - I'm talking a lot of this - so plenty of leg strength is needed. Not only do I need to practice running up them (one of my strengths), I need to practice running down them (definitely not a strength). Let me say this right now - I intend to attack the ass off this race. In all my best ultras I have gone out fast, pulled back when I hit a low point, and hit it hard again when I resurface. I have always been able to ride out the lows because I know they are temporary, and I take advantage of the highs and just go. I know the conventional wisdom is to start out conservatively, but my strategy has always worked well and I usually finish strong. If I DNF, I want it to be because I threw the kitchen sink at this bad boy and gave it all I could.

4. Practice races. A good 50 miler a month or so before the race would be ideal, but so far I haven't found one. However, Brad's darkside series might just fit the bill - three 60k night races, each two weeks apart, throughout August.

5. Nutrition. This race does not provide anything at aid stations except water - you win or lose by what you stash in your drop bag - so I have to figure out the best way to keep those calories coming. Liquid calories (meal replacement shakes) will only go so far, and I need something that will keep all day (and night), and that I can eat on the run, or consume quickly at the aid station. I'm thinking avocados, turkey sandwiches, cold sausage, curry sauce with rice, that kind of thing. Maybe I can bribe someone to go down to Cowboy pizza (my Bandera eatery of choice) and pick me up an extra large for the night portion, so I can grab a few slices of it each time I come through Equestrian.

6. Cross training - building leg (and ankle) strength, good core and upper body. I'm thinking fusion of balance work and weights, I'm thinking Swedish exercise ball, I'm thinking set combos (combining two exercises in one set, for example lunges combined with bicep curls), I'm thinking plyometrics. Aerobic weights workouts have always worked well for me and I will raid Nancy's collection of workout dvds. That Jillian Michaels has some bloody annoying facial expressions, and I often wish she would shut the hell up, but she's a kick ass trainer with some excellent workouts.

7. Stretching. Definitely something I don't do enough of. And I should do better, especially since I own the famous woolly hat book. I promise to do better and will devise a daily stretching routine. Note this is the one point I'm most likely to fall off of.

8. Backing off. Any training plan is a guide, nothing more. If you're feeling jaded, listen to your body and back off. Sometimes just resting for a week leaves you revitalized and re-energized.

9. Pacers. I don't have any and am not looking for any. I enjoy running with other folks, but I am also comfortable with my own company. I also don't think it's fair to drag Nancy along to watch two kids while I play in the hills, so this will probably be a solo trip. That's ok - I just have to get myself in that mental groove. Luckily this has always been a strength.

10. Practicing endurance and sleep deprivation - new baby will play a key role here :-)

Enough talk - here is my basic week breakdown:

Saturday	Long run. 20+ miles - road, trail or combo. Optional core workout.
Sunday	Long run. 10 miles road hills (Jester, Ladera Norte etc), followed by hilly trail. Optional yoga or stretching routine.
Monday	6-10 miles trail run. Medium hills - concentrate on holding pace on tired legs.
Tuesday	Weights, aerobics, core or rest. Alternating hill repeats with Gavin on my shoulders.
Wednesday	Hill repeats on the Hill of Life, followed by 6 miles trail
Thursday	Weights, aerobics, core or rest.
Friday	Absolutely no running or workout whatsoever - woohoo!!! I love Fridays.

Easy like Sunday Morning

Does any British "child of the 70s and 80s" not remember the tv show "The Trap Door"? Good old Burke, Boney and "the thing upstairs". I loved that show, and when Gavin was born I bought a dvd of all the episodes (they were only 5 minutes each). Since this weekend was the first of Nancy's four weekends down in San Antonio, and it was just me and the boy (and the dog) left to rule the roost at home, we enjoyed a Trapdoor marathon. It was wonderful to sit and laugh together at a show I grew up with (and there's a large selection of them on Youtube). Oh globbitz!!!

Anyway, I had great plans to get up early and go run Walnut Creek yesterday, but never quite made it. Ah, the pleasure of being "off season". Instead I had a great weights session which included lots of squats, lunges and side planks (some with weights and some with Gavin on my shoulders). Dang, when you haven't done those for a while, you certainly feel them the next day. Over the next few months I will be concentrating on more weights sessions, aerobics and core workouts to supplement the running, and integrating them into my Cactus Rose training plan which tentatively starts in May.

This morning I woke up super early and got my run in at 5am before Nancy left. Clea agreed to meet me (thank you, thank you, thank you) and we had a lovely run around Mueller. I haven't been back there since it was the Austin airport in the late 90s - there were some really cool trails and funky neighborhoods to enjoy and the weather was just about perfect. It was a nice start to one of those odd Sundays where I had to go into work. Clea kindly offered to babysit Gavin for me, but he's been really good recently so I took him into the office with me. He was reasonably well behaved (though very chatty), and took a liking to a large inflatable alien I had in my office (don't ask - except to say that inflatable alien is now in our living room). I'd forgotten that the Capitol 10k was this morning. 30,000 runners crammed onto Congress - not my idea of fun - and I had to take a few detours to get into the office, but nothing major.

And finally, big congratulations to my little brother who ran his first half marathon this morning in Wilmslow, England, with a cracking time of 1:46:59. Seriously, if this boy actually did any training he would be a superb runner - much better than me.

I have one very clear memory of running with him - it was a 5k race about 6 years ago. We had been up drinking beer until late the night before and he wasn't feeling very good in the first few miles so I slowed down to stay with him. Then about half a mile from the finish he got a second wind and took off without even looking back.

That just about summarizes my brother - a hell of a runner, and a bit of a git.

Only kidding John :-)

10 Years in Captivity

But in a good way. Tomorrow Nancy and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary with a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Back in 2000 we took a fantastic trip to Greece - we spent some time on the islands, traveled across to the mainland and visited Olympia and Athens. It was probably our favorite vacation, and on one of our best days on the islands we traveled around Zakynthos sightseeing. We stopped at a small honey producer and ate traditional Greek yogurt with walnuts and honey - it was delicious. We ended the day at a romantic restaurant in the countryside where we enjoyed a candlelit traditional Greek meal with copious amounts of local red wine.

It was a day to remember, so tomorrow I'm going to recreate that day through food. I have planned a Greek supper to include moussaka with that wonderful combination of Greek yogurt, walnuts and honey for desert. Old romantic that I am, I may even drag out some candles.

Only one of us will be allowed red wine (due to baby), but I will lift my glass and hope for another 10 years as happy as the last 10.... and then refill it.

Here's to you babe - love ya.

Mentally Refreshed

Ok, so I have a theory. Since I came back from the Seabrook marathon weekend my running has been great. All of the tiredness from the last month has completely ebbed away and I'm feeling strong again. I think that I'd been getting mentally stale, and just needed to rediscover running for the hell of it. Knowing that I don't have to get up early to run long both Saturday and Sunday makes such a difference - I may do it anyway, but the point is I don't have to.

And I probably won't be for the next few weeks since Nancy is going to be in San Antonio on Saturdays and Sundays, thus curtailing my weekend run (yep, that means boys-only weekends for the Gavster and me - lots of Batman, ice cream, silly fun and stuff that mummy doesn't let us get away with). So it will be 5am medium-distance runs or lie-ins. Hmmm, difficult choice. Maybe this is the enforced break I keep talking about and never taking? Then again maybe not - I suspect some days the run will win. And on those it doesn't? Well, there's always the shred.

Stay tuned for the beginnings of a training plan for the Cactus Rose 100. I'm on the sign-up list, so I guess it's official. I plan on incorporating quite a bit of cross training - lots of core, upper body work and hundreds of squats, lunges and variations thereof - in addition to the running.

I have a feeling that hills and me will become very good friends over the next few months.

Dreams of Manderley

After very many attempts and far too many hockey pucks I finally managed to nail it and create some really yummy submarine rolls today. I used this recipe fromKing Arthur flour, only I changed it up to make 6 subs instead of 8 buns and used dried sage instead of dried onion which made the whole house smell great. They tasted fantastic and we ate them still warm - I built a sandwich out of cream cheese, red lettuce, tomato, honey ham, red onion and mozzarella. I only wish I had some avocado slices to layer on top.

Now I can enjoy a delicious sandwich without having to look at pictures of that goofy Jared. Take that Subway!!!
Oh, and the post title is an obscure literature reference and nothing at all to do with anything. Kind of like the post itself.

Misty Mornings at Walnut Creek

I had the day off today, so I slept in and then headed over to Walnut Creek around 8am for a nice recovery run. It was wonderful to just run without any race to train for or any goal in mind (Cactus is too far in the future to worry about yet). This coming Wednesday I'm hosting a "trail 101" run for some road runners as part of our work's fitness and wellness program, so I primarily wanted to map out a 5 mile route.

The rain from the weekend has had an amazing effect. There was water running in the creek, all of nature seemed to be alive and everything was right with the world. As I ran through the woods, beams of sunlight shone through the trees, spotlighting the path ahead of me. The temperature was in the 40s, and as I came across the dam the last of the early morning mists were lifting and it was just beautiful. I stopped for a moment to breathe it all in. The log loop was wonderfully peaceful, and I headed up powerline and then diverted down to the shady springs trail and took one of the alternative creek crossings. I splashed across the creek, enjoying the feeling of the cold water and headed back along the ridge to the parking lot. It was one of those runs that left me refreshed and invigorated. I ran super slow, and took many walk breaks to just enjoy a glorious spring morning. The 5 miles took me just over an hour.

As I have the day off, I'm going to make a nice supper. I picked up some jumbo shrimp which I shelled this afternoon, and I'm going to saute them in butter with shallots, garlic, lemon juice and a sprinkle of herbs. Paired with some white rice and a side salad it should make a simple but very delicious meal. Yummy - good times.